Need Help With 2 Assignments

Bonal, X. (2016). Education, poverty, and the “missing link”: The limits of human capital

theory as a paradigm for poverty reduction. The handbook of global education

policy, 97-110.

The human capital theory has been instrumental in understanding the education-poverty dynamics. In this scholarly article, Bonal (2016) attempts to explore the educational sector and its influence in human and societal development at large. Using descriptive qualitative design, the researcher notes that five decades since its formulation, the human capital theory provides a real representation of the proper functioning of markets and the rationality of agents as utility optimizers. More precisely, the theory has succeeded as a dominant paradigm in the area of educational policy. In this study, the theory will be used to explore the relationship between poverty and educational success for children.

Rieldi, J. C., Frazier, A. D., Kim, M., & Cross, T. L. (2018). A comparison of perceptions of

barriers to academic success among high-ability students from high-and low-income

groups: Exposing poverty of a different kind. Gifted Child Quarterly, 62(1), 111-129.

In this journal article, Rieldi et al. (2018) utilize qualitative methods to explore the perceived barriers to their academic success. The researchers used students from eighth grade with high and low capabilities respectively. After conducting an interview, three major qualitative themes were identified as the perceived barriers to their educational success and achievements. These major themes included: constraining environments, integration versus isolation, as well as resource plenty versus resource poor. In all the sampled groups, students stated that their leading barriers to educational performance and success included: low income, environments that are not supportive of learning, constraining peers, as well as the nature of educators. Furthermore, students from low-income families experienced different forms of mayhem in school, which negatively affected their ability to gain and retain knowledge. The learners were profoundly integrated within their school communities, while their high-income peers were socially isolated from their colleagues and educators. Both group of learners expressed issues related to poor fit within their learning environments, such as autonomy and competence, and relatedness for learners.

Ferguson, H. B., Bovaird, S., & Mueller, M. P. (2007). The impact of poverty on

educational outcomes for children. Paediatrics & child health, 12(8), 701-706.

While poverty increases the degree to which students can access quality education or perform highly in class, gender factors can interplay with level of income to amplify the problem. As such, Ramanik, Bovaird and Mueller (2007) observe that poverty and gender-related norms and practices continue to remain as the leading structural bottlenecks to the realization of academic achievement, including class attendance among girls in India and other parts of the world. In order to explore the depth of this problem, Ramanik et al. (2007) use qualitative methods to assess the extent to which gender norms and practices interact with family deprivation and dynamics to generate high school dropout rates. Moreover, the researchers evaluate the leading determinants of school retention and changes to gender socialization. Using longitudinal qualitative case study method, the researchers found that poverty and socioeconomic variables at the family levels significantly shape conformity with discriminatory gender practices. Such practices may take the form of restricting girls’ movements to and from school, and assigning girls household tasks that consume their study time, thereby resulting in low academic performance. To the contrary, parents of girls from high-income families understand the importance of education and are more likely to apportion their resources towards taking their children to better schools. Therefore, such problems result in major disparities in academic performance across different schools.

Friels, A. C. (2016). Motivation towards Success: A Qualitative Comparative Case Study

Illustrating The Differences In Motivating Factors In Achievement Between Low

Ses High Achieving And Low Achieving African American High School Females.

Income-based disparities in educational performance and success is also an observable phenomenon across different races, cultural, and ethnic groups. In this scholarly article, Friels (2016) notes that for a long time, teachers and educational scholars have sought to explain the impacts of poverty on student attainment. According to Friels (2016), most of such studies have set out on missions to determine the mechanisms that can facilitate better support for learners who have limited resources to succeed intellectually. Such efforts have also played a major role in sealing the achievement gaps between these students and their financially stable peers. However, Friels states that the ultimate admixture of poverty and racial factors often define major sources of disadvantages in academic outcomes.

Jensen, E. (2013). How poverty affects classroom engagement. Educational

Leadership, 70(8), 24-30.

Poverty and student engagement are two concepts that are strongly interrelated. In this descriptive qualitative study, Jensen (2013) explore the most common themes that are mentioned by students and educators on how poverty affects academic performance. The systematic assessment of such issues found that the major themes that are mentioned include: poor nutrition and health, poor vocabulary, as well as reduced effort in working hard in school. According to Jensen (2013), children from low-income families often ace many health and nutritional problems that increase depression and reduce concentration in class. This problem reduces their engagement in the long- and short-term, thereby interfering with their school performance. The study further suggests that children from poor neighborhood may have earing sickness that, if untreated, can reduce concentration and engagement. Children who grow up in low-income neighborhoods also suffer from vocabulary challenges, compared to their middle-class and wealthier counterparts. This problem can worsen their classroom engagement due to language and communication barriers. A child’s vocabulary is an important part of the brain’s tool kit for learning, memory, as well as cognition. Terminologies support children in their representation, manipulation, and reframing of information. Thus, children from low-income backgrounds are less likely to understand the words that teachers use in class or the words that appear in reading materials.

Quillian, L. (2017). Poverty, neighborhood, and school setting. Focus, 33(2), 22-28.

In this scholarly work, Quillin (2017) investigates the association between poor neighborhood and academic performance. In order to attain this objective, the researcher qualitatively assesses the contents of discussions held by three panelists on various elements of how neighborhoods and schools influence poverty and inequality. For instance, Quillian (2017) provides an overview of the association between neighborhood and poverty. Using support from recent evidence-based literature, the researcher asserts that neighborhood is a stronger factor for low-income families than for middle and higher-income residents. Moreover, the researcher states that schools in low-income neighborhoods often perform poorly compared to schools that are located in high income settings due to differences in quality of education, learning resources, and lack of supportive environment for learning. Furthermore, Quillian explores the potential implications of school segregation on learning outcomes and inequality. The researcher concludes that although academic attainment gaps can be sealed by improving school practices, learning institutions can support social norms and practices that encourage tolerance and civic participation through the use of integrative student assignment policies.

Rideout, V., & Katz, V. S. (2016). Opportunity for All? Technology and Learning in

Lower-Income Families. In Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. Joan

Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. 1900 Broadway, New York, NY 10023.

Income inequality reduces access to high-quality education. In this scholarly work, Rideot and Katz (2016) explore the potential implications of providing technological resources to learners on their levels of engagement and performance. According to the researchers, many resources and policies have been passed to reduce the disparities in performance and success between rich and poor students. The researchers observe that while such policies have provided gradual improvements, technology can provide even more phenomenal outcomes. For instance, Rideot and Katz (2018) found that technological devices that students use may be cheaper, but can still provide valuable academic contents that would have otherwise been harder for poor children to access. Most low- and moderate income family backgrounds have some form of internet connectivity. However, most of them often fail to make maximum use of such connectivity to realize academic success. Thus, enlightening them on importance of technology can improve their academic success.

Williams, J. M., Greenleaf, A. T., Barnes, E. F., & Scott, T. R. (2019). High-achieving, low-

income students’ perspectives of how schools can promote the academic achievement of students living in poverty. Improving Schools, 22(3), 224-236.

Finally, Williams et al. (2019) investigate the ways in which low-income students can improve their academic performance. The researchers observe that children and adolescents from poor neighborhoods often comprise a majority of public school students countrywide. However, as the number of learners from low-income neighborhoods increases, so does the attainment gaps between them and their richer friends. After examining a qualitative thematic analysis of causes of achievement gaps, the researchers identified major themes common to such students. Examples of such themes included: optimism, parent- school collaborations, as well as establishing networks of relationships. The findings of this study can inform educators on meeting the learning needs of children from poor backgrounds.